Qedward writes: As the UK prepares to shake up the way computer science is taught in schools, Redmond is warning that the UK risks falling behind other countries in the race to develop and nurture computing talent, if "we don’t ensure that all children learn about computer science in primary schools".

With 100,000 unfilled IT jobs but only 30,500 computer science graduates in the UK last year, MS believes: "By formally introducing children to computer science basics at primary school, we stand a far greater chance of increasing the numbers taking the subject through to degree level and ultimately the world of work."

When I went to school, we were taught about how computers worked, how to do boolean algebra and other logic and we even touched on assembly language. This was in an O level computer science course back in 1982. We used BBC micros which were very powerful and open platforms and you had access to the advanced user guide which gave details of the chipset and registers so you could plug devices into the user port and drive stepper motors to build robots. When PCs replaced the BBC micros, computing in schools